On April 23, 2024, Advarra, Inc. filed a notice with the Attorney General of Maine after discovering that an October 2023 data breach resulted in the leak of confidential information belonging to patients of Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute (“Moffitt”). In this notice, Advarra explains that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party being able to access consumers’ sensitive information, which includes their names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. Upon completing its investigation, Advarra began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.

If you received a data breach notification from Advarra, Inc., it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. A data breach lawyer can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, as well as discuss your legal options following the Advarra data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What Caused the Data Breach Affecting Moffitt Cancer Center Patients?

The Advarra / Moffitt Cancer Center data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, Advarra’s filing with the Attorney General of Maine provides some important information on what led up to the breach. According to this source, Advarra is a company that provides services to Moffitt. As a result, Moffitt provides Advarra with certain information about patients.

On October 26, 2023, Advarra learned that an unauthorized party had been able to gain access to an employee’s email account. In response, Advarra disabled the affected account, notified law enforcement, and then launched an investigation to learn more about the incident and what, if any, consumer data may have been leaked.

Through this investigation, Advarra confirmed that the unauthorized party gained access to the employee’s email account on October 25, 2023. On February 21, 2024, Advarra learned that the email account contained emails and attachments containing confidential Moffitt patient information.

After learning that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, Advarra reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were impacted. Advarra completed this process on March 13, 2024. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, Social Security number and date of birth.

At no point did the unauthorized party gain access to Moffitt Cancer Center’s IT network; all leaked data was obtained through a breach of Advarra’s systems.

On April 23, 2024, Advarra sent out data breach letters to anyone who was affected by the recent data security incident. Moffitt Cancer Center also sent out letters explaining the incident on April 24, 2024. These letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.

More Information About Advarra, Inc.

Advarra is a business services company based out of Columbia, Maryland. Advarra creates processes and software to help companies perform clinical trials. Advarra also offers consulting and training services, as well as conducts independent reviews of clinical trials. Advarra employs more than 1,350 people and generates approximately $285 million in annual revenue.